Scott Carlin of LIU Post to Co-Chair UN Conference
Dr. Scott Carlin, an associate professor of geography at Long Island University Post, has been named Co-Chair of the 66th United Nations Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization Conference to be held in the city of Gyeongju, Republic of Korea from May 30 – June 1, 2016. The theme of this year’s conference is “Education for Global Citizenship: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Together.” This will be the first UN DPI/NGO Conference held in Asia.
The Conference will take place in the first year of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations Member States in September 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure human rights and prosperous and fulfilling lives for all, as part of a new sustainable development agenda to be achieved by 2030.
About his Co-Chair responsibilities, Dr. Carlin feels that his lifelong work in education, with a focus on geography and climate change, has prepared him to serve: “My sense of this conference is that we have reached a critical threshold, where global citizenship has transitioned from something we might do as individuals to something that we must do as individuals. In this new era of climate change what happens to one, happens to all. The SDGs are a natural extension of this new perspective. With the SDGs, the world affirms that we are all safer and more prosperous when we attend to the wellbeing of all citizens and the planet. The Republic of Korea, the conference setting, highly values education and its transformative impact on individuals, communities and sustainable development. While in 1945, the literacy rate in ROK was 22%, today it is 98%. Education has played a vital role in creating economic development and stability in this country. Education partnered with global citizenship offers the clearest path toward a world of greater economic equality, gender empowerment, sustainability and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.”
Dr. Carlin added: “This Conference will provide an opportunity for non-governmental organizations, governments, educational institutions, business leaders and lay institutions to come together to develop partnerships and more sustainable institutions. Education is a human right, a shared global value, one that we can all improve to help create a world that is more prosperous, peaceful and sustainable, where everyone can fulfill his or her dreams of education.”
Dr. Carlin was chosen as Conference Co-Chair through a global online nomination process. He teaches at LIU Post’s new master’s program in environmental sustainability and coordinates their Campus Sustainability Committee. He has been active in civil society initiatives at the UN for nearly a decade. For the past two decades, Dr. Carlin has worked on a variety of sustainable development projects on Long Island, including breast cancer and environmental mapping, green buildings, wastewater management, climate change and renewable energy. Dr. Carlin is also national advisor to the Graduation Pledge Alliance (of Social and Environmental Responsibility) which is offered at colleges and universities around the world.
